Comedians is a TV movie/play by Trevor Griffiths, set in a Manchester evening class for aspiring working-class comedians.
Acting
Jonathan Pryce's Gethin — terrifying, magnetic, career-defining.
Writing
Griffiths' dialogue: every joke is a tiny class war.
Direction
Eyre traps you in that room, no escape from the tension.
Director
Richard Eyre
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Written for stage in 1975; Pryce originated Gethin on Broadway and won a Tony before reprising it here.
Set during Britain's Winter of Discontent — the comedy club circuit was literally one of few working-class escape routes, making Waters' anti-commercial stance almost cruel.
GB
